Unfortunately this is the kind of thing which it’s rather socially difficult to conduct an informal poll on.
You can start by asking your mother or your sister or your girlfriend. If none of them obsesses about being raped every time they venture out onto city streets...
Of course, this assumes a reasonably benign environment. If you live in inner-city Detroit, you should be aware of the dangers of going out of your front door, but that applies to both men and women. On the other hand if you live is a sleepy village with zero cases of rape during the last hundred years and you still are “constantly aware of and distressed by the possibility of being raped”, a psychiatrist might be a good idea.
You can start by asking your mother or your sister or your girlfriend. If none of them obsesses about being raped every time they venture out onto city streets...
“Obsesses” already implies excessive concern.
I’m not sure what a good survey would include, but questions about what precautions one takes, or how one feels about going out versus being home might be a start.
The problem is how to get the data without contributing to the atmosphere of fear. Because that atmosphere really does harm quality of life for a lot of women, and is not in any real way helpful at mitigating the danger, because it hardly ever comes with usable advice or strategies attached.
I suspect the most common and useful strategy is the “Girls come in pairs and groups” thing. Which has the advantage of not being a stressor in the way turning yourself into Nicola Griffiths Aud would be, and also likely pretty darn effective—Hard to get raped if your bestie is kicking your assailant in the kidneys.
On a much better tangent: Aud is awesome, and I am really confused noone has made her into a series of blockbuster movies yet.
You can start by asking your mother or your sister or your girlfriend. If none of them obsesses about being raped every time they venture out onto city streets...
Of course, this assumes a reasonably benign environment. If you live in inner-city Detroit, you should be aware of the dangers of going out of your front door, but that applies to both men and women. On the other hand if you live is a sleepy village with zero cases of rape during the last hundred years and you still are “constantly aware of and distressed by the possibility of being raped”, a psychiatrist might be a good idea.
“Obsesses” already implies excessive concern.
I’m not sure what a good survey would include, but questions about what precautions one takes, or how one feels about going out versus being home might be a start.
The problem is how to get the data without contributing to the atmosphere of fear. Because that atmosphere really does harm quality of life for a lot of women, and is not in any real way helpful at mitigating the danger, because it hardly ever comes with usable advice or strategies attached.
I suspect the most common and useful strategy is the “Girls come in pairs and groups” thing. Which has the advantage of not being a stressor in the way turning yourself into Nicola Griffiths Aud would be, and also likely pretty darn effective—Hard to get raped if your bestie is kicking your assailant in the kidneys.
On a much better tangent: Aud is awesome, and I am really confused noone has made her into a series of blockbuster movies yet.